John Luers
John Henry Luers was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Fort Wayne in Indiana from 1858 until his death in 1871.
Biography
Early life
Luers was born on September 29, 1819, near Münster in the Kingdom of Westphalia. His family emigrated to the United States in 1831, settling on a farm near Piqua, Ohio. John Luers worked a store clerk in town. According to contemporary accounts, Luers, as a young man, was not religious and led a wild life. His father severely admonished him for neglecting his prayers.In 1835, Luers' outlook towards Catholicism and service to others changed after meeting Archbishop John Baptist Purcell. Luers soon decided to become a priest. Purcell sent him to St. Francis Xavier Seminary in Cincinnati.
Priesthood
Luers was ordained a priest by Purcell for the Diocese of Cincinnati on November 11, 1846. After his ordination, the diocese assigned Luers as pastor of St. Joseph's Parish in Cincinnati. While there, he finished construction of the church and constructed several schools while eliminating the parish's debts. It soon became one of the largest German congregations in the city.Bishop of Fort Wayne
Pope Pius IX appointed Luers as the first bishop of Fort Wayne on September 22, 1857. He was consecrated at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 10, 1858, by Archbishop James Whitfield. That evening, at St. Joseph Church, Luers' former parishioners held a reception for him. During the party, they presented Luers with items he would need as a bishop: a mitre, a crosier, a pectoral cross, a bishop's cassock, an ambry with episcopal seal and three pairs of pontifical shoes, along with $1,200 in cash.In 1860, Luers dedicate the Cathedral of the [Immaculate Conception (Fort Wayne, Indiana)|Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception] in Fort Wayne. In 1863, Luers held a synod of priests in the diocese at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in which he established the laws and constitution for the diocese. Luers attended the Second [Plenary Council of Baltimore|Second Plenary Council in Baltimore] in 1866.
As bishop, Luers founded several new parishes and missions, established an orphanage To serve the large German-speaking population in the diocese, he invited the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ of Dernbach / Westerwald, a German religious order, to come to the diocese in 1868. The sisters established St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne in 1869. In 1868, Luers established an orphanage in Rensselaer, Indiana, for children who had been orphaned during the American Civil War.
At the time of Luers' death, the Diocese of Fort Wayne had 69 priests, 75 churches, ten chapels, one hospital, one orphan asylum, one college, 11 academies for girls, 40 parochial schools, and a Catholic population estimated at 50,000.
Death and legacy
In June 1871, Luers traveled to Cleveland, Ohio, to ordain a seminarian. At that time, the Diocese of Cleveland was lacking a bishop to perform the ceremony. While returning to the Cleveland train station on June 29, John Luers suffered a fatal stroke. He was age 51. Luers is buried in the crypt at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.The Franciscan Order founded Bishop Luers High School in 1958 in Fort Wayne.